If you appreciate craftsmanship and ingenuity, you’ll be blown away by this 7-cylinder radial engine built from air-cooled VW parts. Watch it built and see it run in this fascinating video. 

Radials (along with their first cousins, radial rotaries) are among the most intriguing engines ever devised. Best known for their use in propeller aircraft before the jet age arrived, radials have their cylinders arranged in a star pattern, with all the pistons running on a single crankshaft throw (per row). And while the radial employs the basic Otto four-stroke cycle, in many other ways its workings are remarkably different from a conventional passenger car engine—from internal balance to firing order.

If you’re not familiar with the innards of a radial, this video will serve as an excellent introduction. Machinist Arnold de Man of the Netherlands constructed this 7-cylinder radial around air-cooled Volkswagen heads and jugs, but fabricated many of the components from scratch, including the crankshaft. Best of all, when it’s all done we get to hear it run. If you’re not a radial fan already, this little clip could set the hook. Enjoy.